Jester

[slythwitch]

Huckleberry and red currant with the incisive bite of neroli.

i think this is the most complex and beautiful scent i've had the honor of trying thus far.

it goes on sweet, but the tartness of the berries and the citrusy smell of the neroli really balances the sweetness of the berries. i just sat and sniffed my wrist for... i don't know how long. the currant gives it a slight sharpness.

this scent convinces me that the key to a winner is balance, and this is definitely a winner.

EDIT: Added Lab's description --Shollin

[Shollin]

First sniff: I definitely smelled fruit, but all I got was apples. No hint of spice, just pure round fruity apples. (I smelled everything this time before reading the descriptions, just to see how close my nose got.)

 

Wearing: Here's what I wrote to Elizabeth in a moment of unrestrained fangirl drooling: "Jester is the most gorgeously perfectly hobbity scent I've ever worn. I can't figure out why it's all apples to me, because there isn't a hint of an apple in the description, but there it is... bright tart crisp autumnal apples, the kind for which you'd dodge the grouchy farmer's big scary dogs and climb way too far up in the tree, furry feet and all. Reminds me a heck of a lot of Merry and Pippin, and I loves my hobbitses." It's absolutely delicious and crunchy, if a scent can be crunchy.

[Paintsnked]

This smell good makes me feel like Bouncing!!!

 

I smell juicy berries when I wear it. The other things come thru but berries is most prominent on me. I feel happier wearing it!

[nic]

I don't mean to downplay how beautiful Jester is - I really do love it. But when I first put it on, I was hit by...Strawberry Bubblicious. It's this great berry sweetness that's just so pure and fresh. This is a great daytime scent for me, it makes me feel young and bright.

[Donnababe]

I don't detect neroli here, but sweet juicy berries - particularly strawberries. It's very similar to Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum.

 

Quite light and very sweet. A cheering scent.

 

I'm not sure whether I'll be getting a big bottle but I'll certainly use my Imp's Ear.

[misspissed]

Jester makes a wonderful room scent that really lasts. I used it in an oil lightbulb ring, and a few drops lasted for hours.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my body chemistry enough to be a sucessful fragrance for me.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: This has the same cheap cherry note that I didn't like in Bordello. Turns out it's currant and my nose doesn't care for it.

 

Second Impression: Not as sweet on the drydown, but the currant is still there poking at me.

 

Final analysis: Not for me, unfortunately.

[Mitzy]

This smells, to me, like the rear end of a Scratch 'n Sniff My Little Pony.

Strawberry Scented Plastic.

I like it in the imp, but as soon as it touches my skin it has that terrible acid/plastic smell, that, mixed with the berries, is downright awful. I had to scrub this one off. too bad, I really wanted to like it.

[Ishtar]

Ooh, this is lovely

 

Very fruity (but not cloyingly sweet) in the vial. I mostly smell berries and... grape?

 

When worn, it turns into a crisp, red, playful berry scent. It is tart rather than sweet on my skin, and the tartness makes it very interesting and deep.

 

I put Jester on before going to bed and I discovered in the morning that this is a gorgeous room/sheet scent. While I liked it a lot on my skin, I like it even more on my sheets. I am ordering a second imp that I will exclusively use as a room scent and linen spray. Home fragrance perfection!

Edited June 1, 2004 by Ishtar

[la-roja]

Jester on me was sweet, bright, bouncy, fun and smelled like artificial fruit flavored candy.

 

I think it would make an excellent first perfume for a young girl.

[hypothermya]

When I added Jester to my wishlist, I was thinking to myself that I wanted to find a companion for my bottle of Bewitched -- something just as wonderful and berry smelling, but perhaps a bit more cool instead of musky. I didn't really know what the huckleberry would smell like, and I'd only ever smelled the red currant and the neroli in other mixes.

 

In the Bottle

 

My god! If Bewitched is deep purple, this is bright magenta! The only thing I smell is sweet and tart, like candy! It's isn't cool, so much as a bright, playful, bubbling smell. Aptly named.

 

Wearing It

 

On my skin, the sweetness (and oh was it sweet!) mellowed out a lot. The first couple of seconds it stayed true to the original scent, but as it dried it gained a bit more of a sophisticated sweet (this must be the neroli -- i recognize that smell from Venom), and also a bit more of a vital smell to it, as though the currant were adding some amount of substance to it. It basically turns from a vapid, adolescent giggling girl to a grown, sophisticated woman with sparkling eyes chuckling under her breath.

 

Unfortunately in about 5-10 minutes, this smell gains that plastic scent to it, and (just like Mitzy) I'm reminded of the strawberry scented plastic that were on my My Little Ponies. It's not a strong plastic scent, and is pretty tolerable... infact, it's not unpleasant. But not the way that I envision myself smelling.

 

The scent, however, lasts a good long while -- at least five hours that I can recall, if not longer. One of Beth's scents that has some real staying power.

 

While I was really glad that I got to try this out, I think this is another one that'll go straight to the swap pile. It definitely has that berry feel, but none of the reserve that I'd associate with a "cool" scent. Even so, I'd consider keeping it around if it weren't for my perverse skin chemistry.

[darkling]

Jester immediately had the overpowering scent of a second-rate candle. The fruit notes were very strong and smelled sweet and artificial rather than natural, distinct scents.

 

It dried down quickly while still maintaining the quality of artifical fruit and was completely lost in a couple of hours.

 

My partner reported that Jester smells like bubble gum on me so this imp will definitely go on my next swap list.

[Tesseljoan]

It's been a while since I had this (forgot to review it), but what I remember it was sweet. sweet, sweet and juicy. It wasn't me, but it was a very happy-perfume to burn in an oil burner.

[allidavie]

I just tried jester, which I received as a gift from an evil, evil enabler - my first BPAL experience ever. I haven't read what's in it or what it's supposed to smell like - so please laugh at My Very First BPAL Review. It'll probably turn out to be rose scented.

 

Jester smells like shimmery fruit - an everlasting gobstopper of fruity sweet flavors, undercut with the smell of leaves. One minute it smells like strawberries, the next bananas, the next mango. Quite a sweet scent, definitely yummy, although not for everyday. This is what you wear to an outdoor Jimmy Buffet concert, or for a day at the beach followed up by a night on the boardwalk.

 

After reading everyones reviews.... and having it on for a while:

 

I do detect the Strawberry Hubba Bubba/Plastic note, but it seems to go away after about an hour. What you're left with once that first note goes away is an absolutely incredible, melllow fruit smell. I kept having to resniff my arm every three seconds it was so great. I don't know if I could deal with the initial strong smell for the time it takes to dry down as I think you'd need to apply a ton of it to still have enough of the wonderful lingering smell when you're done.

[malanna]

This is so hard to describe...it's not any of the typical scent categories, although it most definitely is berry. I expected it to be brighter and more playful, but to me, this was a more grounded berry scent. I've never smelled huckleberry before, and it wasn't like any of the other berries I've smelled. It's not tart, nor sweet, nor sour. It's a "grounded" berry (or scent, perhaps the neroli?). I think of it as the type of berry you would find in a thicket. You'd have to work hard to get the berry--you're crawling through a bunch of bushes, and you see, hidden, the berries. It doesn't mean that there's a green scent to it, though.

[SpinalDesign]

Wet :I popped open the lid just a little and this sweet wild berry mix hit‘s me .The smell is strong but not over powering.

 

Drying : It reminds me of mulberries but so much sweeter... the scent smell soooo good!!

 

Dry : The scent smell like warmed raspberry and strawberries glazed with sugar and honey .It smell so good I’m tempted to lick my self hehe. The smell is very refreshing I used to have liquid soap that I fell in love with that smelt just like this... but they discontinued it sadly. So in much to my delight I’m glad I came across “Jester”!! Oh the scent is so strong I can smell it all around me. I can now smell a hint of lemon or orange but it’s very light .

 

 

Aftermath : The scent is wonderful !! It’s thick berry scent is refreshing and brings a scene of warmth and relaxation for me. This is a keeper and I will have to buy a 5ml for me and my mother . She absolutely is in love with this smell as much as me.Now I want ot have a slice of berry pie Mmmmm!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

How does Beth do it?? Jester smells mischievous but with a tart bite; a true Shakespearian Fool.

 

This is very berry on me--fruity and tricksy. The only thing is...I'm really not all that fruity or tricksy, and I felt quite silly wearing it--it was as though the oil wanted me to find my Inner Fool, but I just couldn't. I do wonder about it as a room fragrance though...

[roisnoir]

Apples? Pears? Something fruity. It smells the way that sugargrit gum tastes. I can just feel my teeth itching. I like it, but I don't think I'll ever wear it. It can live in the box for a while, though. Just in case.

[stardreamer]

This is what you wear to an outdoor Jimmy Buffet concert, or for a day at the beach followed up by a night on the boardwalk. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree with that assessment!

 

Another freebie. This is very sweet and fruity, almost a "fruit punch soda" kind of smell. There's something down in the background that's a little unpleasant (probably the neroli), but I only catch that from extremely close range -- if my nose is even a couple of inches from my wrist, I just get the fruit punch. R. is dubious, but not absolutely negative. I rather like it; a fun, summery kind of scent. Decent staying power, too -- 12 hours after application, it's still detectable (and the whatever-it-was that I didn't care for has faded).

 

I think I'll want to compare this with Lady Macbeth when my imp of that arrives.

[Northernminx]

Bright and fruity in the bottle, blackberry and currant on me. This is a rich, fruity scent, reminiscent of the last bushel of ripe summer berries. Mischeivous, fun, and oh so beautifully berry. It reminded me of those little sugar pellet coated red and black jelly berry candies, evanescant and fun and juuust dark enough to not be too little-kid.

 

Definite keeper.

[VelvetSky]

Jester: I try really hard not to fall back on easy descriptions in my reviews, but Jester IS strawberry bubblegum on my skin when freshly applied. And...there is an undercurrent here that's sort of...strangely metallic. Very, very candy-sweet and oh-so-strong.

 

I get no apples, pears or blackberries. The sweetness of the blend just gobbles up any nuances of individual notes for me. It's like cotton candy on the drydown.

 

Wow, this is SWEET! My teeth are aching!

[Gin]

In the vial, this is fruity syrupy-sweet. On, it retained its heavy sweetness, but with something almost sour underneath--the neroli. In the end, Jester turned almost waxy on me, like old lipstick. I smell strawberry in this, but like Mitzy, the strawberry I get is somewhat plasticky.

 

Edited to add:

I've tried Jester again, and I like it much better this time. It's still syrupy-sweet and the strawberry is a little artificial, but I didn't get any sourness from the neroli. It's still a little waxy, but in a little girl's tin of lipgloss kind of way. Fruity, playful, nostalgic.

[luxuria]

Strawberry bubblegum in the imp, a slightly more mellowed strawberry bubblegum on my skin. This is one I would have preferred to morph a bit on my skin, and it didn't!

 

A long while later- something different came out, which I assume is the neroli. It took this away from full-on bubblegum status. If I smell my arm I get a faint whiff of lipstick..ew. Thankfully, you can only smell that up close.

 

Overall this is a VERY happy, bright, sparkling scent. As it's snowing out right now, it's not exactly season-appropriate..I'll keep this tucked away for spring and summer for sure, though! I'm glad the lab put this in as a freebie because I wouldn't have ordered it on my own.

Edited November 24, 2004 by luxuria

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, Jester is one carefree scent. There’s something very simple and childlike about it. It seems unburdened of a complex array of notes. It’s very uncomplicated and playful.

 

On me, it smells like strawberry-banana candy, and unfortunately banana is a scent I’m just not fond of. However, it captures the mirth of a jester perfectly.

 

I think I'll hang onto this one and try it again in the summer.

[grrrlennyl]

jester

 

at first: very, very sweet fruits.

on: i'm getting very sugary, fruity bubblegum. i really like this.

1 hour later: smells like sangra. fabulous.

4 hours later: i really like this. it isn't as sweet, but it's still very fruity.

8.5 hours later: this there. a bit lighter, but still lasting pretty well.

overall: this is fantastic on me. great when i want something sweet and fruity, but more grown up. i don't know if i'd invest in a bottle, but i'll definitely be making sure i keep an imp around.